Faults In New Cars

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31440, 5 August 1967, Page 14

Faults In New Cars

Sir,—As a buyer of three new cars assembled in New Zealand during the last six years, I can fully endorse the adverse comment of the Consumer Institute. Such shoddy assembly work as puttied joints, bad welding, poor painting, faulty design of starter gear, tin-pot mufflers, badly-fitted doors and slapdash trimming were very noticeable. On complaining to the assembly works, I received a reply a month after, which merely “passed the buck” to the Christchurch agents. Failing to get satisfaction, I purchased a Japanese car and my troubles are over. This is because of good design and high standard of assembly insisted on by Japanese manufacturers.—Yours, etc., ENGINEER. August 4, 1967. Sir,—The report by the Consumers’ Institute on the hundreds of faults in New Zealand-assembled cars raises another point: the cursory treatment of customers by the average car dealer. I purchased a new car last month and although the English handbook states that the car should be returned to the dealer at 500 miles and again at 1000 miles for check purposes, my dealer casually informs me that in New Zealand they dispense with the 500 check and only do the 1000. If a car requires this first check in England, where it is correctly assembled, it must need it even more so in our country. My car was assembled by a firm which had 98 defects in 28 cars tested, which gives me supreme confidence in the vehicle and the car dealer in question.—Yours, etc., NOT SATISFIED. August 3, 1967.